EUGENE, Ore. – Curtis Beach earns first team All-America honors by finishing seventh in the men’s decathlon with an overall score of 7,989 at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday evening, June 6 in Eugene, Ore. Beach started the day in second place, only six points behind the leader but his struggles in the pole vault and javelin throw knocked him out of contention for the title.

Beach kicked off day two with a decathlon personal record in the men’s 110 meter hurdles, finishing fifth in the field with a time of 14.54 to maintain his second place spot with 5,289 points. In the discus, the Albuquerque, N.M., threw a mark of 122-1 (37.21) which placed him 19th in the event and third overall.

The 2011 NCAA runner-up, slid down to fourth place after the men’s pole vault where he cleared 15-1 (4.60), well off of his personal best, to earn 790 points and give him a total of 6,687 going into the javelin. During the javelin, he earned his best mark of the day on his second attempt, measuring 116-0 (35.36) and collecting 375 points.

In the 1,500, the final event, Beach proved he was a competitor and ran away from the field by crossing the line in 4:03.64. The time gave him enough points to pull up into the seventh place slot and earn the first team All-America honor.

“The first day was spectacular and he got off to a decent start in the hurdles on the second day,” said Duke Director of Track and Field Norm Ogilvie. “He had an okay discus but seemed to tense up in the pole vault. He made one third attempt clearance at a height that should have been easy for him and wasn’t able to pull it off the second time. The javelin was very disappointing and even though he has had some elbow issues in the past, he needed more points in that event. We talked about what he achieved in the 1,500 and I am proud of how he came back. It was great for him to come back and earn All-America honors and two points for Duke.”